Egusi (C. lanatus) is a wild melon, similar in appearance to the watermelon. The flesh is inedible, but the seeds are a valuable food source in Africa. Other species that have the same culinary role, and that are also called egusi include Cucumeropsis mannii and Lagenaria siceraria.
2. alveolitis-inflammation of the alveoli in the lungs caused by inhaling dust; with repeated exposure the condition may become chronic. farmer's lung, thresher's lung-alveolitis caused by an allergic reaction to fungal spores in the dust that is inhaled from moldy hay.
Pulmonary alveolus. An alveolus (plural: alveoli, from Latin alveolus, little cavity) is a hollow cavity found in the lung parenchyma, and is the basic unit of respiration. Lung alveoli are the ends of the respiratory tree, branching from either alveolar sacs or alveolar ducts, which like alveoli are both sites of gas exchange with the blood as well. Alveoli are particular to mammalian lungs. Different structures are involved in gas exchange in other vertebrates. The alveolar membrane is the gas exchange surface. Carbon dioxide rich blood is pumped from the rest of the body into the capillaries that surround the alveoli where, through diffusion, carbon dioxide is released and oxygen absorbed.